Rice experts discuss the way forward in rice development #

Rice experts from the National Agricultural Research
Institute (NARI), in collaboration with experts from Africa
Rice Centre recently, met and discussed the way forward on
rice sector development strategies.
The forum, which brought rice experts and stakeholders
together, was held at the Baobab Resort Holidays in Bijilo.
According to officials of NARI, the objective of the two-day
forum was to bring all stakeholders working within and
around the rice hubs in the West Coast Region and Central
River Region platform to strengthen partnership and work
collectively in the hub areas in ways that would guarantee
rapid impact and develop with a common vision and
outcome based on the shared ideas of the valued chain
actors.
The objective of rice hub stakeholder meeting was alsoto
communicate on research products such as varieties,
machinery, rice as well as advise and discuss scalable
technologies from research development and value chain
actors,and assess and establish institutions' mechanisms
for the hubs.
It was also to discuss scalable technologies from research
development and value chain actors, get an update of the
nation's research development strategy (NRDS) document
and operationalization.
The other objectives were also to draft common vision of
the hub based on the shared ideas of the valued chain
actors and facilitators to draft the desirable outcome of the
hub.
The expected results was that actors would be updated on
research products and other activities ongoing in the hubs,
vision and desirable outcome for each hub would be drafted
based on the sharedideas of the valued chain actors and
facilitators and work plan would be developed for each
desired outcome.
In his closing remarks, the deputy permanent secretary,
Ministry of Agriculture, Sherifo Bojang, said this was a very
important session that needed to be given utmost care and
attention, as everything was forged towards Vision 2016.
He said they should have partners like AFRICA Rice, who
would always be at their end and always collaborate with
them to see the development of the agricultural rice sector
and the development of The Gambia.
He said they facilitated and helped them to develop a
document or work around a document they could use in
future to realize what they wanted to get as far as rice
sector development was concerned as a ministry and
research institute, which he thought was in the right
direction.
He said he had no doubt the participants at the two-day
convergence would come up with a document that would be
proud of.
He challenged the participants to use the forum diligently
towards producing a very good document that could be used
by the National Research Institutes in fulfilling the objective
of the workshop.
The hubs focal person, Mr Famara Jaiteh, also gave
anoverview of hub activities, objectives, expected results
and methodology of workshop, saying that hub represents
key rice ecologies, which are linked to major national or
regional rice development efforts to facilitate broader
update of rice knowledge and technologies.
Dr Philip A. Idinoba of Africa Rice made a presentation on
rice sector development strategy, highlighting the role of
hubs and taskforce.